Nintendo pushes its luck

Nintendo asks its fans to be patient.The Japanese giant announced that its latest assault on the gaming market will be delayed until later this year.

The Gamecube, the latest console on the Nintendo agenda, was due for Japanese release in July, only to be pushed forward an extra two months, according to a Bloomberg Japan report.

“There could be several reasons for the delay,” explained one insider. “One, the company is hoping to stockpile more hardware so it isn’t short on units as it was when the PS2 was launched. Two, the launch software may need to bake a little longer before its ready. And three, oddly, is Game Boy advance. As it is selling very well in Japan, it is not outside the realm of possibility that Nintendo is strategically holding off launching Gamecube to get more Game Boy Advanced units into the hands of Japanese consumers.”

The announcement came during an investment meeting held in Teru, Japan, where Nintendo made several more surprising announcements. Such as Nintendo’s negotiations with rival gaming giants, Sega, who will be producing games for the Game Boy Advance as well as the Gamecube.

According to their US representatives, Nintendo never gave solid dates: instead they have stood by the fact that they had only ever estimated the time of release.

In a statement given by the American division of the company, they declared; “Nintendo’s priority has always been to develop the highest quality hardware and software at affordable prices — we only bring out the best and nothing less…. The Japanese launch date has been rescheduled for September to ensure that Gamecube will launch with sufficient quantities of both hardware and great software. We have already delivered over 600 Gamecube development kits to outside developers and many of these games will be ready for Q3.”